Are You Ready to Spring Ahead?

The sun is shining. The weather is a little warmer and soon it will be time to spring ahead. That's right folks, daylight savings time begins on March 14th. While moving our clocks forward by one hour may not seem like a big deal, parents know this change can lead to bedtime battles and crabby kids. Springing ahead may happen automatically in many ways. We no longer have to reset every clock. Our phones, cars and even some appliances automatically spring forward for us. Unfortunately, this change is not automatic for our bodies and is especially not automatic for children's bodies. 

Imagine how confusing it can feel when bedtime (8 pm on the clock) feels like 7 pm to our child's body. The opposite is true in the morning. If you wake your child up at 7 am, their body feels like they should still be sleeping for another hour. No wonder parents see a spike in bedtime delay tactics and cranky mornings. Did you know that if you take small steps now you may be able to avoid this? 

Or this?

Take Small Steps Ahead of Time

In this approach, you adjust your child's bedtime by moving it 15 minutes earlier every couple of days. 2021 bedtime example: If your child's normal bedtime is 8pm, start moving it to 7:45 on March 7th and 8th, then 7:30 on March 9th and 10th, then 7:15 on March 11th and 12th, then 7 pm on March 13th. Then on March 14th when the time change occurs your child's bedtime will be back to 8pm. 

Start Changing Before and Finish After

This approach also adjusts your child's bedtime by moving it 15 minutes earlier every few days. However, in this approach you start a few days before the time change and finish after the change has happened. 2021 bedtime example: If your child's normal bedtime is 8 pm, start by moving it to 7:45 on March 9th and 10th, then 7:30 on March 11th and 12th. On March 13th and 14th when the time change has happened your child's bedtime will be at 7:45. Bedtime will be back to its usual 8 pm on March 15th.

The goal of both of these approaches is to make the change to your child's bedtime a gradual shift. Thus, having less of an impact on young children. It is important to remember that young children are less capable of handling sleep deprivation than adults and need more sleep. Toddlers and Preschoolers need between 12-14 hours of sleep per day including naps. 

Remember all children are different. Some children won't even notice the time change. Other children will need more time to adjust. Hopefully using one of these approaches can help ease any disruption to your child's sleep schedule.